Digital Distribution Vs. Disk

Which Do You Prefer?

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/only-06-of-your-movie-budget-goes-to-online-rentals-and-downloads/5928

Can't resell downloads

Can't let friends borrow downloads and vice versa

Only one company would have control of prices if we went to digital distribution

Give me a disk and those great toys r us buy 2 get 1 free dealsany day

90% of the time I go with digital distribution unless I can get a hard copy much less expensive.

Why? You have nothing to show for your purchase, what if something happens to your HD?

So your saying you don't prefer having something in your hand that you can actually say is yours as opposed to a bunch of 1s and 0s representing what your paid your hard earned money for.

You do realize that with DD only one source controls the price of the content, no special deals, you cant trade with your friends etc...

Dont care..

Just as long as i get the game

You do realize that with DD only one source controls the price of the content, no special deals, you cant trade with your friends etc...

spidadragon1

according to whom? Steam does that all the time.and they let you burn an infinite amount of copies to discs if you should want to.

As much as people praise DD and steam, it has one major cripling flaw. Not everyone has the internet that plays video games, going digital distro not only alienates those who don't have the internet, or bandwidth limits in some places. But the fact that the internet is not fast enough to be downloading whole games on a regular basis, downloading a HD movie takes long enough as it is, imagine a HD game? it's nothing promising until we have larger and faster bandwidth and if we avoid this stupid bandwidth caping that some comapnies are pining for.Jynxzor

alternatively, compression.

DD all the way for me. I don't have to worry about getting a scratched disk, heck, I don't even have to go to the store.

As for those people saying there'd be no deals, you really need to check out Steam. I picked up Titan Quest Gold for $20, that's $10 cheaper then most retail stores had it. And there always seems to be something decent on special. More to the point, no disks means less costs for devs, which means they have to sell fewer copies to turn a profit. This would be a huge benifit to smaller game devs.

Can't resell downloads true, but games are pretty worthless after a month

Can't let friends borrow downloads and vice versa but can run it simultanious on 5 systems with one licence on steam so how does that matter?

Only one company would have control of prices if we went to digital distribution ms and sony already have control over the pricing

Give me a disk and those great toys r us buy 2 get 1 free dealsany day

chicagog19

I cant stand digital, i need to actually have a copy of something.VendettaRed07

did you know when you buy a disk you are only buying the licence to play the game? $60 for a cd key/licence

Why? You have nothing to show for your purchase, what if something happens to your HD?

So your saying you don't prefer having something in your hand that you can actually say is yours as opposed to a bunch of 1s and 0s representing what your paid your hard earned money for.

You do realize that with DD only one source controls the price of the content, no special deals, you cant trade with your friends etc...

spidadragon1

people don't relize you can't loose you dd game. steam lets you download it unlimited amount of times, no issues with cd keys, can run it on multiple systems at the same time. why buy 2 copies of the game so you can lan when you can buy one copy on steam and still be able to lan? A big list of game in steam is much more sasifying than lots of plastic in my cupboard. what if you loseor break your disk? its all gone, if my hdd dies I can always download it again

As much as people praise DD and steam, it has one major cripling flaw. Not everyone has the internet that plays video games, going digital distro not only alienates those who don't have the internet, or bandwidth limits in some places. But the fact that the internet is not fast enough to be downloading whole games on a regular basis, downloading a HD movie takes long enough as it is, imagine a HD game? it's nothing promising until we have larger and faster bandwidth and if we avoid this stupid bandwidth caping that some comapnies are pining for.Jynxzor

games like crysis is 4-6 gb, hd movies are way bigger, and with steam, if multiple games use the same engine I don;t have to download everything, only what's missing. Game can be downloaded compressed which saves even more space. The 10gb game called grid can easily be downloaded over night on a half decent internet conection

Disk....

DLing takes more time for me when stores are like 5min away.

I usually like to lend/borrow/trade games w/ friends.

Large DLs is a no-no when I see people already complaining about installs haa.

Generally, I just think hardcopies are more accessible and versatile

I assumed that this question was assuming that there be improvements to network speed and capacity. It seems obvious to me that DD is superior to disks. There will come a day when downloading a game or movie will take a very small period of time. It's a much more efficient, reliable method.

and btw, if dd uses a system like steam or the wii's virtual console, then it will be possible to resell your game depending on how hard drive technology evolves. You could sell the right to download the game, so that's theoretically possible.

As of today however, disks are better. I vote DD though. I guess i'm an idealist.

[QUOTE="spidadragon1"]

Why? You have nothing to show for your purchase, what if something happens to your HD?

So your saying you don't prefer having something in your hand that you can actually say is yours as opposed to a bunch of 1s and 0s representing what your paid your hard earned money for.

You do realize that with DD only one source controls the price of the content, no special deals, you cant trade with your friends etc...

imprezawrx500

people don't relize you can't loose you dd game. steam lets you download it unlimited amount of times, no issues with cd keys, can run it on multiple systems at the same time. why buy 2 copies of the game so you can lan when you can buy one copy on steam and still be able to lan? A big list of game in steam is much more sasifying than lots of plastic in my cupboard. what if you loseor break your disk? its all gone, if my hdd dies I can always download it again

That's Steam- what about EA Link? Or Atari's service? Oh that's right, cherry pick your favorite services, regardless as to whether it has the games you want.

And while yes, it is possible to destroy a disc or lose one, it's also just as easy to forget/lose your account information. Both are pretty stupid and only effect a tiny minority.

And while yes, it is possible to destroy a disc or lose one, it's also just as easy to forget/lose your account information. Both are pretty stupid and only effect a tiny minority.

Vampyronight

except that the companies can give you your information back. once you lose a disc, you're screwed.

I would of said DIGITAL IF the prices were equal ... but they are not.

Crysis Warhead on play.com = £15 , on steam it cost me £22

STALKER CLEAR SKY on steam = £32 ( same as rip off shops like GAME ) , Stalker on play.com = £18 ....

I'll stick with discs since I like seeing my collection grow on the shelf.

Can't let friends borrow downloads and vice versa

chicagog19

Not being able to lend games to friends is a good thing. You know how many games can be lost/destroyed letting people borrow them?

For the people who prefer DD I see them saying there will come a day...when DD is on PAR with a physical copy, I mean why would you want to have a download when you can get everything your looking into the future for NOW with a disk

I just prefer knowing I bought something and being able to actually POINT to it

For the people who prefer DD I see them saying there will come a day...when DD is on PAR with a physical copy, I mean why would you want to have a download when you can get everything your looking into the future for NOW with a disk

I just prefer knowing I bought something and being able to actually POINT to it

spidadragon1

At my current Uni DORM I can download a game in an hour, to get a physical copy I have to walk into town and back, which takes an hours.

So ummm... yea... retail doesnt exactly just land on your lap.

You cant point at your screen?

Some of you people don't look at the whole picture. I understand this is system wars.....keyword: System, but Digital Distribution is only good if you have ethernet connection. T.V.'s dont have ethernet so unless you're watching movies on your system all the time or on your computer I really dont see the point.

You download a movie to your PS3, that movie it limited to your PS3, cant watch it on your 360, cant watch it on your PC, cant put it into your DVD player, cant take the movie to a girls house, you can only watch it on your PS3

Digital Distribution is very limited!

[QUOTE="chicagog19"]

Can't let friends borrow downloads and vice versa

PandaBear86

Not being able to lend games to friends is a good thing. You know how many games can be lost/destroyed letting people borrow them?

The money I save by not having to buy every single game and letting my friends borrow games is enormous. I have never had any issue with my friends breaking a disk and if they did they would pay for it. If you have a friend that breaks something and doesn't pay you back, then that was not a friend to begin with.

Physical copy always.

DD is nice for sub-par games though

Which Do You Prefer?

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/only-06-of-your-movie-budget-goes-to-online-rentals-and-downloads/5928

spidadragon1

Both. We are already using Digital Distribution this gen. I like it for arcade games and other medium sized games. Full releases will be purchased in disc format for me.

They will co-exist for a LONG time before DD completely takes over discs.

Digital distribution is a waste.

1. I don't want to wait 4+ hours for a multi-GB game.

2. If I'm buying a virtual copy, I want the game for less than the physical copy.

3. I want the ability to burn the digital copy to my own physical disc in as high of quality and with the same lastign quality as a professionally made copy.

4. I want a multi-terrabyte harddrive capable of storing all of the games I would own for a cheap and fair price.

5. I want assurances that 10 years down the road I can still download my copy of the game I bought. The same goes for 20 or 30 years.

6. I don't want my digital copies linked to one specific PC or console. Systems break.

When digital distribution can take care of all of those issues, I'll care.